Web searching has come a long way but can still be very frustrating for Internet users. The ability of a user to navigate to useful information using a modern search engine still largely hinges on the accuracy of the user's search terms. When the search terms yield few results, or results far off base from the user's intent, the user has little recourse than to enter better terms. For all the technological advancements that provide a user access to the glut of information available online, people are stuck with a rudimentary hunt-and-peck approach to find what they want. Modern search engines try desperately to help visitors accurately find information, knowing full well that its effectiveness for finding online content drives traffic to or from the search engine. Increased traffic brings increased advertising revenue, so the underlying search service becomes the lifeblood of a search engine.
Many of today's search engines provide a toolbar that users can download as an extension to a client's web browser. Toolbars are graphical menus of different options and features integrated into a web browser in a seamless manner. Common features include text fields for submitting search engine queries, proactive alerts, access to popular web sites, email capability, and the like. One particular feature that aids the user experience is the ability to copy—or “ghost”—a search query a user enters in the search field for a search engine into a search field on the toolbar. Such a feature can be seen in the Bing® toolbar, developed by the Microsoft Corporation headquartered in Redmond, Wash.